A New Forever
by Sykawaiisakura
Summary: Hanako, an orphan, never knew her parents, the “Humpty Lock” being her only heirloom. Now, she must find the key to her forgotten memories, for there is something that will tell her of her past life, a life that wants to use her for revenge. Hanako Amu
1. Prologue: Of the Past

***DISCLAIMER* I do not own the rights to Shugo Chara! **

**Prologue – Of the Past**

_Dear Diry,_

Today, mi dad hit me agan. Mom isnt hom, and Sis s at her kalege parti. im lonli.

_Dear Diry,_

mi hed's bleeding and it hurts but i kant c the doktor or els Dad will get in trubel. i lik dad so I wont tell. Kross mi fingers and hop to di.

_Dear Diry,_

i think mi legs brokn. it hurts a lot and the pane wont go away.

Pepel keep telling me im the devil. Hav I ben a bad grl?

i hate this. Mommy, Daddy, Sis…sav me.

_**Ever since I was little, I always hoped that one day, my family would love me. "If I'm a good girl, I'll be loved." That's what I truly thought and never strayed from.**_

_**Three years from then, my father and mother were caught for child abuse, my sister for under aged drinking. I then went to go live with a new family, a foster family, the Hinamoris'.**_

_**They are kind people, with a daughter of their own. But the hope that I had back then for my real family to be "loved" had never recovered. A pathetic, useless person…that is exactly what I am. For me to have believed all those years…and it had simply amounted to nothing.**_

_**I'm not sure what kind of future I'll have.**_


	2. Chapter 1: First Memory

***DISCLAIMER* I do not own the rights to Shugo Chara! **

**Chapter 1: First Memory**

_Somehow this dream felt familiar._

_In my dream, there was screaming. Children crying for their parents, and horribly lifeless bodies lay strewn on the ground._

_The Earth was in ruins, absolute and complete destruction. This is war, I had realized._

_I could feel the fear bubbling up in my throat, threatening to break out. Then I felt a squeeze on my hand, and I looked to see a young man with short, blue hair._

_His mouth parted, a look of determination on his face, "I'm going, Amu." He looked sadly at me for a brief moment and then let go._

_Desperately, I attempted to grab on to his arm._

_I wanted to scream, as if he was important to me, like he wouldn't come back after this. I knew. But no sound came out._

_He turned towards me and quickly looked away, "This is a fate that both of us cannot escape."_

_Tears began to spill over the brim of my eyes. My voice was still choked beneath some unknown force while I watched the fire spread over the once-peaceful village and across my heart as he pulled away to leave._

_The few adults left stared at the damage, completely lifeless, while children shook their parents' corpses urgently, hoping for some sign of life. I quickly turned my head from this, now desperate to find some remains of the man that was leaving me._

_I saw his shadow in the distance, a mere speck against the swirling dust. And then I found my voice._

---

"Ikuto!" I screamed, sitting up in bed. There was a long pause after my scream, as I groggily wiped my eyes from the confusion.

A few moments of silence resumed before I heard the yelling and footsteps. My door banged open.

"What's wrong, my daughter?!" Tsugumu, my foster father, ran into the room, armed with a stuffed animal of sorts. Midori, his wife, was still in her apron, with her spatula flailing in the air, threatening to burn someone. Lastly, their daughter, Ami, five years old, ran in with her pink teddy bear pajamas still on.

I stared at them, in silence, scrutinizing their looks.

"Sorry, bad dream," I apologized sincerely, "I got freaked out, and this was the only way I could wake up." It was the truth; in fact, this _was_ the one way I could have wakened from that horrible dream.

They sighed, and Ami began to head back to her room. "Wait," she suddenly whipped around to face me with her angelic face full of confusion, "Who's Ikuto?"

"What?" I stared at her in bewilderment. Had I been speaking aloud in my dream?

Ami stared into my eyes for a few moments and then turned back around towards her bedroom, "Nothing." Tsugumu and Midori watched her leave, and then looked at me with questioning expressions.

I groaned and flopped back down onto my bed, my pink hair splaying all over the pillow. They shrugged their shoulders and left, thinking it best to leave me alone in my time of confusion or, possibly in their eyes, insanity.

My pink hair was strewn all over the cushions as I struggled to remember what my dream was about.

There was a fire. That, I was sure of.

And there had been a man of importance to my own wellbeing, to my own soul. From that one dream, I felt that I had truly known that man, and needed him desperately in my life.

"Guh!" I clutched my chest. It felt like it was burning. The pain was excruciating.

I held back the want to scream because I knew it would end soon. It wasn't the first time it had happened.

As the pain subsided, I sighed, "This is coming more often now…"

My brain, sharpened from the pain, began to think about my dream that Ami had mentioned. Normally, I didn't _have _any dreams. This was one of the few I apparently had, or could even remember. But now, after the ruckus my family had created, I couldn't even remember most of the details of the dream anymore.

Fire, screaming, and loneliness…surely it had been a nightmare instead?

I sighed again, deciding it to be useless to kill my brain over this, and swung my legs over the bed to hurry to get dressed.

By the time I got downstairs, everyone was sitting at the table, watching the TV intently as _Housewives' Knowledge_ came on.

"Oh, good morning, Hanako," Midori said as I took my place at the table. I replied with a good morning and turned towards the TV.

Noboku Saeki's face filled the screen as she gave her assessment of today's "fortune." "Soon, you will meet someone that will change your life."

I sighed, _WOW. That was unnecessarily blunt and cheesy…_

"A person that will help you discover your true self." My full attention snapped to the screen. _My true self..?_

I stared hopefully at the faded TV screen, hoping for another piece of advice, but maybe, this time, something about my past. I sat on the edge of my seat, anxious.

"And that is all for today." My chair disappeared from under me and I slid, or rather, crashed, to the floor.

Immediately, everyone, well, everyone but Ami who couldn't quite reach the ground that easily, stood up, offering help and asking if I was all right. "Yes, yes, yes…" I waved off their concerns and regained balance without anyone's assistance. Ami stared quietly from her spot at the table, eyes dark from thought. I looked away from her probing eyes and stood to leave for school.

"I'm going!" I called from the door.

"Be safe!" a female voice called back.

"Sure! Bye Tsugumu, Midori, Ami!" I shut the door and began my trek to school.

Behind the closed doors of the house, the three sighed. "I guess it's not exactly easy for her to consider us family," Midori murmured, "It's understandable."

Ami, still in her seat, stared at the door glumly then stood to make her announcement, "I think I should go to school now, too."


End file.
